"FUNCTIONALLY EXTINCT"

It's happening again. A Forbes article, citing the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF), is reporting that due to recent fires in Australia koalas are now "functionally extinct" and had 80% of their habitat wiped out. (The term “functionally extinct” refers to the point at which a species is so sparse in numbers they no longer have a significant ecological role and/or the long-term viability of the species is doubtful.) But if you just search the term “functionally extinct”, you’ll find this is the whole business model of AKF. The foundation claimed koalas were, in effect, extinct back in May of this year, before the current catastrophic fires.

When they did so back in May, scores of scientists pushed back against the misinformation, sharing estimates that koala populations likely sit at around 331,000 (reliably between 144,000 and 605,000). To look up koalas on the leading source of species info, the IUCN Red List, you’ll find that the total koala population as a whole is vulnerable and their numbers have continued to decline since millions of individuals were taken for their pelts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Researchers also spell out that koala populations are as much at risk due to forest fire suppression as they are from forest fires. However, they explain how public concern and systematic researcher monitoring is high, with an effective conservation plan in place. They also caution that, “Effective management of some of the threats on the mainland could lead to excessive abundance and result in pest problems similar to those occurring on Kangaroo Island and in parts of Victoria.” So, yeah.

With the latest blast of misinformation, post-fires, there seems to be less push-back. Still, according to local ecologist, University of Queensland associate professor, and IUCN marsupial species specialist, Dr. Diana Fisher, the fires in Eastern Australia were bad and impacted 10% of forests there; but they also left 90 million hectares untouched and “koalas are nowhere near functionally extinct.” Dr. Christine Adams-Hosking, another UQ biologist, who specifically studies the impact of climate change on koalas, their habitat, and food sources, says that though the threats are abundant there is no danger of koalas going extinct.

We all lose when we push nonsense, even for a good cause.